


Teachable Moments

by FallenFeathers



Series: Discovering Destiny [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Awesome Gwen (Merlin), Best Friends, Gen, Merlin's an awful servant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21894565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenFeathers/pseuds/FallenFeathers
Summary: Gwen realizes that a boy from a small farming village probably doesn't know the first thing about being a prince's manservant.
Relationships: Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Discovering Destiny [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577164
Comments: 6
Kudos: 169
Collections: Our Poor Lovable Merlin





	Teachable Moments

‘Merlin, do you know what a manservant does?’

It had been bugging Gwen ever since Merlin had asked for her help with Arthur’s armor. She knew Merlin was from a farming village, and relatively new to Camelot. It should have been obvious to anyone that he didn’t have a clue as to how to be a servant. Of course, the nobles probably took it for granted that every peasant knew how to be a servant. Now, she found herself in Merlin’s room wondering what she’d gotten herself into this time.

‘They do whatever the prat their serving tells them to?’ Merlin flashed her a cheeky smile as he finished polishing Arthur’s sword. 

‘Really, Merlin,’ Gwen sighed. ‘It’s quite a bit more than that.’ Merlin only shrugged. ‘If you want to stay as Arthur’s manservant, and I know you do so don’t bother denying it, you need to learn what duties are expected of you.’ That at least seemed to chastise him. ‘You’re a quick learner, so we’ll start tonight.’

‘We?’ Merlin asked.

‘Yes,’ Gwen said. Sometimes Merlin really was thick. ‘I’ve been Morgana’s maid for years, a servant in Camelot even longer. I can teach you everything you need to know about being a proper manservant. Now,’ she continued before Merlin could interrupt, ‘the first thing you need to know is how the castle runs.

‘Servants have a hierarchy just like the nobility. As the Prince’s personal manservant, you rank near the top. As personal servant to the King’s Ward, so do I. We can delegate tasks to other servants when we need to, so don’t let anyone try to bully you. The Steward is in charge of all of the castle servants. Technically that would include us, but in practice it mostly applies to administrative tasks like our salary. The Cook is in charge of the kitchens. Any matters of food, such as meal times or any special requests Arthur might have, have to go through her. I would highly advise not getting on her bad side. Then there’s the Stable Master, he’s responsible for all of the horses as well as their tack. Typically the stable boys will take care of grooming, and saddling horses when there’s a patrol, but as you’re Arthur’s manservant you will probably want to take care of his horses yourself from time to time. The Laundry isn’t overseen by anyone in particular, but Mistress’ Gibbons and Travers are the ones who do the laundry for the King’s household. You aren’t expected to wash Arthur’s clothes yourself, but anything required for a special occasion you’ll want to give a going over yourself.’ Gwen took a moment to pour herself a cup of water from the pitcher on Merlin’s dresser. ‘Are you following me so far?’

Merlin, who looked like he was not following her at all, quickly nodded. ‘Yup, every word!’

‘Right,’ Gwen continued. ‘We’ll get into the particulars about how to do things later, but here’s what a typical day for you should look like…’

A few weeks later found Gwen and Merlin sorting through the cleaned clothing of their respective masters. They had the laundry room to themselves as the days washing was done and everything had been put out to dry in the afternoon sun. Few people ever came to the laundry at this time of day and Gwen had learned that she was less likely to be interrupted when working on Morgana’s dresses here. It also happened to be a good place to teach Merlin a few things.

‘I can’t believe it,’ Merlin said, staring through a hole in one of Arthur’s shirts. ‘This is the third shirt this week that Arthur’s managed to ruin.’

Gwen set aside the dress she’d been inspecting for loose threads and took the shirt from Merlin. ‘He wore this shirt to training?’ Gwen shook her head when Merlin confirmed her suspicions. ‘Merlin, you can’t give Arthur his nice shirts to wear all day!’

Merlin just shrugged. ‘All of Arthur’s shirts are nice, Gwen.’

‘Nicer than peasant garb, sure,’ she conceded, ‘ but, Arthur has some shirts that while still nice are nicer than others. Not to mention he likely has quite a few shirts that are old.’ Seeing that he still wasn’t getting it, Gwen pulled the basket full of Arthur’s clothes to her. ‘This is silk.’ She held up the thin shirt for Merlin to see. ‘Silk should only be worn for holidays or very special occasions, such as when entertaining royalty from other kingdoms.’ She pulled out another shirt. ‘This is cotton and is suitable for when Arthur dines with the king or just as an everyday look. When it starts to fade and thin like this,’ she pulled out a faded red shirt. ‘It becomes a training or hunting shirt. Linen is fine for that too, as well as for when he goes on patrol or is wearing armor.’ Gwen gave the basket of clothes back to Merlin. ‘And that shirt isn’t ruined,’ she continued. ‘You can stitch the hole so it won’t be noticeable. Especially since Arthur tends to wear that gambeson around.’ She went back to work on Morgana’s dress as Merlin started sorting Arthur’s clothes thoughtfully.

‘How come Arthur never said anything?’ Merlin wondered.

Gwen laughed at that. ‘Oh, I’m sure he would have said something if you sent him to training in silk, but otherwise I doubt he noticed. There are a lot of things that servants have to think about that nobility takes for granted.’

Merlin snorted. ‘There are a lot of things the nobility takes for granted. Period.’

She couldn’t argue with that. So they continued working in companionable silence, only broken by Merlin’s occasional swear as he repeatedly stuck himself with a needle. Gwen was about to offer to sew it for him, really it was a wonder he wasn’t bleeding on the shirt, when the door to the laundry room burst open.

The two friends watched as one of the castle’s young maids rushed in. The girl quickly closed the door behind her before collapsing against it and breaking into sobs. Gwen and Merlin exchanged a look as they set aside their work. Gwen was the first to reach the crying girl.

‘Debbie,’ Gwen called softly as she knelt next to her. ‘What’s wrong? Are you hurt?’

‘Gwen,’ the girl, Debbie, cried, throwing herself against the older girl’s shoulder. Gwen held onto the girl as she continued to cry and glanced helplessly at Merlin.

After a few moments, when Debbie’s sobs started to subside, Gwen slowly stood and walked her over to the table to sit down. Merlin quickly cleared the clean laundry before sitting on the other side of the table and pouring a cup of water for the poor girl.

‘Thank you,’ Debbie said through her sniffles. Merlin had already started to untie his scarf from around his neck to offer the poor girl when she took a sip. ‘I’m so sorry. I thought this room would be empty.’ As she started to calm down, Gwen noticed a red mark on Debbie’s cheek. Judging by the set of his jaw, Merlin had seen it too.

‘Debbie,’ Gwen started gently, ‘what happened?’

‘I was assigned to look after the envoy from Mercia,’ Debbie began, tucking a stray brown curl behind her ear. ‘The Steward said he gave me this assignment because I’m a quick and quiet worker, and that peace envoys could be particular, and it’s so important that this peace treaty gets signed. I tried so hard not to mess it up.’ She started to tear up again. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

Gwen reached forward to take Debbie’s hands. ‘Tell us what happened. Maybe we can help.’ Merlin nodded to confirm Gwen’s words.

Debbie wiped her eyes. ‘I was going to clean his room after lunch. That’s when they were going to have talks about the treaty, so he’d be gone long enough for me to dust and tidy everything. I even picked a few flowers from the garden, because the guest rooms can be a little drab sometimes and that room especially doesn’t get a whole lot of light.’ She paused her rambling and ducked her head shyly. ‘I was dusting the top of the wardrobe, and I must’ve knocked it, this little leather bag fell. I heard something inside it break, but before I could look in the bag to try and fix it the Envoy walked in.’ Debbie stopped again and took a long sip of water, hands shaking.

‘He hit you,’ Gwen guessed.

Debbie nodded. ‘He said I’d been snooping through his things. When I tried to explain what happened, he slapped me. Said I was spying and needed to be punished.’ She looked up at Gwen. ‘He got this awful look in his eye. I was so scared. I just ran out of the room. That’s when I came in here.’

Gwen pulled the girl into a tight hug to offer whatever comfort she could. Unfortunately, Gwen didn’t think there was all that much that she could do to help. Such things happened far too often, and no one would take a servant’s word over a nobles. Gwen was thankful everyday that Lady Morgana was so kind and understanding. Most servants were not so lucky.

‘I’ll take care of it.’ The sound of Merlin’s voice shook Gwen from her thoughts.

‘Merlin?’ Gwen asked. ‘What are you going to do? After what happened with Valiant, you know Uther won’t listen. And there’s the peace treaty to consider.’

‘It’s best you don’t know.’ Gwen really did not like the sound of this. ‘Just cover me with Arthur will you? I can still wake him in the morning, no one else should have to suffer that, but if someone else could bring him his meals and draw his baths that’d be easier.’

Gwen shook her head. ‘Merlin, what are you going on about?’

He gave her his trademark cheeky grin. ‘I’m going to be the Envoy’s new servant.’

‘You’d do that?’ Debbie looked at Merlin with wide eyes.

Merlin turned to the girl with a smile. ‘It’s no big deal. Arthur hits me all the time in training, so it won’t be much of a change.’

Debbie’s brow wrinkled as she thought for a moment. ‘Then I’ll take care of Arthur’s meals then. And there are a couple of footman who can help me with the baths.’

‘That settles it then!’ Merlin was far too cheery about this for Gwen’s liking. ‘Arthur’s not dining with the King tonight so I say we start now. Just tell him I had to go collect herbs for Gaius or something.’

‘Thank you!’ Debbie hugged Merlin and then Gwen. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if I had to face him again.’ She then rushed off to the kitchens as it was nearing the servants dinner time.

Gwen rounded on Merlin. ‘What are you going to do?’

Merlin gave her his most innocent expression. ‘Nothing to worry yourself about. I can handle myself.’ He picked up the basket with Arthur’s clothes. ‘I’ll just go put these away. See you later, Gwen.’

Gwen watched as Merlin left. That boy has the worst habit of getting caught up in all kinds of trouble, she thought. Of course, this was the same boy who had picked a fight with the Prince, twice. Shaking her head, Gwen gathered up Morgana’s dresses. She really hoped Merlin didn’t end up in the stocks again.


End file.
